2009-05-15 Police Commission Minutes

Home

Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes May 15, 2009 Page 5 this was wonderful because people in the outlying districts don't normally have this. Chair Whittemore stated that they did something similar in Kona, and encouraged them to do it again. It would be helpful to get a real good view of the community. Chief Kubojiri stated that they plan on having these talk story sessions in every police district after every commanders' meeting. They don't want to censor who can and cannot participate. He wants to invite as many people as possible and asked the commissioners to invite people who have the pulse of the community. Chair Whittemore stated that no one knew about it in Kona. Chief Kubojiri stated that they utilized their CPOs and other personnel to get the word out and hopes to improve the process of involving people. He wants it to be an informal talk story session with no agenda. The commanders' meetings are usually the third Tuesday of the month, but because of other activities, it does change. The public is not invited to the commanders' meeting, only to the talk story session afterwards. Chief Kubojiri reported that they had to cut their budget by 10% for the upcoming fiscal year. Every department had to make the same required cut. The Mayor submitted a balanced budget to the Council. The Mayor stated that he will not touch the vacancies for first responders. However, civilian staff is subject to justifications. Chief Kubojiri reported that the CPOs and SROs are on a five -year rotation so that others can have the same opportunity. It is a promotion upward to PO III. CPO is a concept, and they want all patrol officers to have that philosophy. Chief Kubojiri reported that in allocating personnel, they have to factor in not only population, but also geography and calls for service. Other factors that come into play that commanders have to deal with are military deployment, FLMA, and workers comp. Fortunately, they will soon have a full complement of officers. Recess was called at 10:35 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 10:50 a.m. INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS STATEMENTS ON COMPLAINTS: CAPTAIN GUILLERMO (Complaint HPC 09 -15 and 09 -18) stated that historically, this homestead had hunting in the area. However, the district grew and homes came out in the area. They have had calls from people in the area about gunshots. Their intent was to contact people in the area, in the evening, and inform them about the night time hunting violation and the types of violations that they could be arrested for. Their intent was to educate the community. He gave the commission the flyer that was distributed. Since these handouts were given out, the calls for service about gunshots have dramatically decreased. They did not have roadblocks. They had three officers in vehicles with their dome lights on. People were held up for a couple minutes at the most. They kept a log of the vehicles. These are all private lands. Above the private property is DLNR land. The Catholic Church owns about 300 acres that no one maintains. Hunting has been done for generations. Their approach was to education people about safety issues. Discharging a firearm in a residential area is illegal. The land owned by the Catholic Church is one of the problem areas, and the complaints came from residents in that area. He is sure the flyers changed the habits.